Wilson Grand Jury Will Investigate Death of 'War Dog'

2 years ago

A Wilson County grand jury on Friday will take up the case of Toby the War Dog, a Shepherd mix who was brought home from Afghanistan by an Army Captain whose unit adopted him in the war zone, only to be killed by Rachel Ries' next door neighbor last month, 1200 WOAI's Berit Mason reports.

Ries says Toby wasn't hurting anybody when he was shot to death April 12th.The neighbor claims Toby was in his property and was endangering his family, a charge Ries denies.

"We're a civilized society and we have certain rules, and for law enforcement to want to blow it off due to complacency is unacceptable," Ries said.

Ries raised thousands of dollars to bring Toby back from Afghanistan, as opposed to having him euthanized or simply turning him loose in that lawless land.Toby is not a military service dog, but he was a dog that her helicopter unit befriended while in Afghanistan, and he became their companion.

"Nothing is going to bring Toby back, but if this can help reestablish the norms of civil society, I'm all for it," Ries said.

Ries and her friends have waged an on line and social media campaign calling for a criminal investigation into the death of Toby.A Facebook page has nearly 10,000 likes, and a petition on 'The Petition Site' calling for 'Justice for Toby' has gathered just under 20,000 signatures.

Shooting a dog is either a felony or a misdemeanor under Texas law, if the grand jury finds that the neighbor acted improperly in shooting Toby.